RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO
May 30th 2012
Morning Report
The FTSE 100 nudged further into the red as worries about Spain intensify. Mining
stocks suffer the heaviest losses, as investors are forced to scale down their
expectations for Chinese stimulus, after news agency Xinhua says the government
will not launch anything on the scale of its 2008 program. Meanwhile, investors
digest data showing UK mortgage activity rose more than expected in April.
Several stocks on the FTSE were falling after going ex-dividend - trading without
the right for their latest dividend payouts - including National Grid, Capital
Shopping Centres Group, Marks & Spencer and AMEC.
AMEC, the engineering and project management group, announced this morning that
it has acquired a Brisbane-based consulting, engineering and technical services
business to expand its Environment and Infrastructure service offering in Australia.
Mining groups Vedanta Resources, Evraz, Kazakhmys and ENRC were firmly out of favour
as hopes of a stronger Chinese economy fade. Even Glencore was lower after revealing
that its takeover of agricultural business Viterra has moved a step closer after
Viterra passed a special resolution.
Natural gas giant BG Group fell after saying that it is to sell its stake in to
gas-fired power generation plants in the Philippines as part of its planned release
of $5bn of capital over the next two years.
Utility provider Severn Trent disappointed after pre-tax profits fell 38% in the
year to the end of March, something the firm blamed on operational, infrastructure
and employment costs.
THE FTSE 100 @ 10:05 Down 77 @ 5,314
THE DOW JONES closed Up 125 @ 12580
THE NASDAQ closed Up 33 @ 2870
Exchange Rates
GBP – USD @ 10:05 1.5560
GBP - EURO @ 10:05 1.2511
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